school of medicine in st. louis they they have created a new compound that mimics the physical benefits of the workout . researchers say can one day be the foundation of a supplement that can replicate some physical benefits of exercising. it might help people with muscular atrophy from aging or disease. >> amazing. >> thank you for watching. welcome to closing bell i'm mike sent holy and first got -- more resilient and more rotation keeping the key and nexis right up against a.i. nvidia -- you can call it a struggle on the news event for -- investors. is not open at 1.4%, it was down 8% earlier but not far from the flightline. between small gains and losses. however, the rest of the semis are pulling back after that

amazing run coming into the month of march. strength and energy, software, industrials, banks are all driving a pretty modest s&p 500 rally, but one again that gets us near record highs. here is the -- s&p recovering from our morning dip. small caps outperforming the closing high on the s&p 500 it is just that one -- just about 5175, we are within five points of that. despite sharp losses, -- supermicro and microstrategy are out performing -- down slightly on the day. they are still near a three month high with the federal reserve meeting now underway, culminating tomorrow. that takes us to the talk of the table that will tape. can the market continued levitation act. and how high are the stakes now writing on the fence decision and policy message coming in less than 24 hours. let's turn to liz and sanders.

first, some thoughts. it is good to see you. >> how are you? >> all right. you have been noting the ravel of churn and leadership shifts under the service of the index deal. the s&p 500 has flattened and slow down a little this month, but is kept aloft near the size. what is the message you're pulling out of the action? >> the real churn and significant rotation has happened in nasdaq. nasdaq is treating at a near all-time high. is that the index level, with no more than a 3% drill down in this year. but the average number within the nasdaq has been -26%, obviously that is there market level the client. the recent breakout you have seen, across indexes, the strongest at least relative to a 50 day moving average have been in materials, and financial and energy.

we will see it is not a bad thing to see this rotation and turn happening. it is a corrective process, under the surface. without the index is coming down all at once. but i think it is sending a message about economic resilience. that is why there is more of a cyclical bias towards the market. >> in some ways, i guess it is a hallmark of a bull market. instead of nasty, sharp pullbacks, you get the rotation. i guess the question is, how much interest rates are acting to restrain any of the economic activity, or the market. it seems we have managed to deal with this lift in bond yields as well as repricing of what the head might do, at both the economy and markets have taken in stride so far. >> return to the economy, we know there are some buffers. corporations have, particularly in large corporations, they have -- debt, and they earn more interest on the cash. that is not the same thing if

you go down the -- spectrum, certainly into the zombie world. that has manifested in -- itself in -- the second half of last year there was a direct and almost perfect inverse relationship between bond yields and stock prices. it is a little more nuanced this year. it is still seeing it with an index like the russell 2000, less so with the lesser cap index like the s&p. the relationship is there. it is just not as clear-cut as it was in the -- last year. >> the other question is, the recent uptick in some inflation measures and how the fed might characterize or deal with that. or maybe, who knows, look past it or make much of it tomorrow. and whether that is a concern. or is that part f the backdrop of a relatively high nominal gdp growth economy? >> we have been through this adjustment process throughout

the course of this year, going from the start of the year with an expectation of a larger start to cut? -- that is a part not just the fed, but the data itself. it is a coin flip for june, very low probabilities in may. i think it could show we have taken yet another cut out of what would've been free best-of- three prayer that.. the question is, what point does it hit the market, given we've had the market resilience. ultimately, it is not about the fed reaction functions. but the sustainability of the economic growth profile. i think an environment with -- worst-case scenario, it would be a continue -- continued uptick on the inflation side. -- and keeping the fed into pause mode for longer. i think will get a little more color on that after the

upcoming fed meeting. >> i know some of that is like a reverse goldilocks, we hope we are not in for that. let's stop for a second. for more on the fed let's bring in cnbc economics correspondent, steve -- you have been talking about this message from tomorrow we will get from powell and the committee regarding the dot plot and how much cuts might be projected as a close call. i also wonder, sometimes as you know, jeb powell sort of dismisses the dot plot. he says we put something on a paper and it's not something to be dictated. how much are we writing on what that tells us? >> there is a constant tension. people understand the dot plot is not policy. the only policy statement there is is a statement that comes out at 2:00. that is only in the committee does as a whole. the individual forecasters

submitted that way. that creates amine and mold and other funny things that the market looks at and embraces as policy. sometimes, you are right, the fed chairman powell says, this is a pretty good bet on what will happen. he says, they are older and not really relevant for everything policies go. or, don't take it to the bank. i want to point out, mike, at this moment, i just looked at the january 2025 that once contract. it's now treating at 60. which means the market and the fed at this moment are in perfect agreement as to what happens this year until tomorrow when we get the new projections. and of course there is concern and a lot of talk that maybe the fed, the motor average changes their two just to cut this year. i think the market has had a lot of time to think about this

and digest it. if the other side of this story is as liz ann sonders was talking about, there is more growth. -- earnings are pretty good, i think it is not a bad trade- off. you want to trade 1.25 -- base cut i think the market will probably take that. it's not a big selling point. >> to be clear, by january of next year, if we were at 460, that means read quarter -- cuts. >> we will see how the contract adjust tomorrow. >> i guess, it is also pointing out that there had been longer pauses, in terms of rates staying where they were at the highest level after -- but not that recently. and not that much longer, right? in 2006 at 2007, it was a little over a year. in june of this month will be

11 month. >> yes, and remember by chair jefferson at a recent talked about the 1995 model. i do not remember how long the fed caused there, but it was a long time. they cut, they waited and they cut again. they came back and they were on hold for a long time. they actually increase rates again. that is another possibility. i think that is where we are right now. powell, at the last prost -- press conference, talked about beginning the process of cutting rates. i think he is afraid of this idea that once they start, they will be forced to keep going. i think he needs to spend some time the clawbacks affects ability. >> and i think start the process of being less restrictive is how they have been trying to catch things as well. to convey the think the policy restrictive. steve, thank you so much. let's bring in ryan leavitt of

invesco as well. brian, how do you stack all of these factors up with the market that is already had a really good run and has so far been able to shrug off these challenges of potentially less fed easing and obviously higher bond yields? >> we talk about the different market leadership. if you rent that'll remember, november and december. there with the pep rally, expectation that rates would go down significantly. it has been different this year as we have recalibrated. but yet the markets have pressed higher. the way i view it is, if you look historically, peak inflation and peak tightening and interest rates, historically, it is good for stocks over the subsequent years. i am not surprised to the market significantly higher than where it was in june of 2022 when inflation picks. and i am not surprised to see it significantly higher since the fed have been done raising rates. it may have some nuance and

leadership. the market right now is expecting some improvement in growth. cyclicals set yours -- i think that is appropriate. >> it does seem like a little bit of a struggle try to handicap where the index will go to try to substantiate -- if we are just using marketwide valuation. how do you treat that? how do you cabell valuation as it translates into project returns? >> valuations are great. i would advise people to not think of valuation would be consider where they should be allocating dollars for the short-term. valuations over the long-term may suppress your return expectation. but in the short term, they tend not to be -- if you compare an earnings deal right now on the market, compared to the treasury yield, you're not in balance. what is not particularly expensive to the other.

i would say you want to be exposed to stocks, typically stocks about 80 to 85% f the market cycle. bejeweled that you do not want to be there when things are heading towards a contraction. look at where we are now, do you feel comfortable taking risk? it does not seem like the end of the cycle. there is not a lot of leverage in the system. credit markets are behaving. i would not be overly focused on valuation. >> no doubt about that. even the way the market has haith, liz ann, it has not lined up with four months of gains and no pullbacks. lausanne,, you do see part of the economy slowing down and showing some fatigue. some softness in the n-terminal -- internal labor market. the one reason you would be concerned if the fed were going to wait longer to cut is if you think they will make an error and eccentrically ignore a possibility that the economy

decelerates from here. how do you suggest the chances of that sizing up right now? >> i do not consider myself a armchair quarterback of the fed -- but there are lateral critics that see the risk may run if hey stay in pause mode for a more extended. of time. i just think the cycle is so unique that we have to take about what has already happened. we have had recessions in parts of the economy that were the early beneficiaries of the stimulus -- a couple of years ago. those went into their own recessions, manufacturing, housing and housing related. i think what is in to watch is stabilization and recovery. we might be seeing that in some housing related data. there is a scenario where, whether it is because that policy or an action that you start to see more weakness in the labor market. more than just cracks on the surface side. but then you -- do you have the

offsetting recovery or in the areas. -- that already went through their own individual recessions. i just think this entire cycle we have to look at it it -- in a more nuanced way. it's a -- apple versus histories oranges. >> brian, i was just advocating about valuations. we are only like 8% up from where the the s&p was 2+ years ago. we have had basically to -- market in the last two years. it's not as if there has not been a period of payback. >> we pick about 122, that was the market pricing -- 25% down is very much in line with a mild recession. so far, this economy has been more resilient. there are some names at the top that might be trading a little bit in excess with regards to valuations, with those of the companies that have been

driving a lot of earnings growth as well and their pes have been stable. the average stock in the s&p 500 is not significantly overvalued. in fact, pretty much trading at average. i think liz ann sonders makes a good point. there are something that will flow in the economy. the fed wanted to slow the consumer down. but to her point, manufacturing looks like it may be recovering. housing looks like it may be recovering. it's a consumer driven economy. we may see the economy slow down a bit. but that is exactly what the fed was trying to accomplish. historically, and a slowdown you will pull back a little. i saw a discussion of 4 and 95, but ultimately, that was a great set up for market to continue to move further. i think we are in is emily situation now. >> although in that scenario, we are well and 95.

we do not want to many pullbacks at 95. great to talk to both of you. brian, liz ann. was sent it over to lindsay reagan. -- courtney reagan. unilever is jumping as it announces is jumping up ice cream unit. those are the brands being affected. 7500 jobs as well. ice cream business generated about -- about 30% of unit levers total sales. they ask that a cost savings of about 800 million euros, while plans are yet final, i demerger is the most likely form of separation. international paper shares are popping to as a new ceo is name. he will start on may 1st. he succeeds mark sutton, who has been ceo for about a decade -- decade. raiders is citing sources that

masons have agreed to open its books to -- and brigade capital. last week there was a -- that they were drafting a report to potentially get to the step. macy's has not yet responded to our request, art-house has declined. courtney, thank you. we are just getting started. up next, it is day two of and videos -- event. it is launching its next generation of chips people to -- you're watching closing bell on cnbc. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years,

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some big headlines in the a.i. world, microsoft hiring the cofounder of deep mine. steve kovach standing by. and --

stands by as well. steve, let's start with you. let's talk about this acquisition and what it means for microsoft. >> not exactly an acquisition. microsoft is forming a new division dedicated to a.i. is going to be run by a big- name. that is -- he will be the ceo of the new group, that is called microsoft ai. focusing on consumer products, especially copilot, the a.i. tool microsoft has and putting in all of its products. he will be reporting to the ceo, who made the announcement today. he is best known as the cofounder of deep mine. that is the a.i. starter up google bot a decade ago. but solomont has been running a startup called inflection a.i. which makes the chatbot -- inflection has named a new ceo

and said it is pivoting its business away from consumer a.i. and instead focusing on making a.i. tools soft were developers. however, it is the one to support the chatbot for current users. but it is not just microsoft houchin one executive year. and inflection a.i. spokesperson tells us microsoft will hire most of the start of 70 employees. it is effectively an apple higher without microsoft actually buying the company, which would come with loads of regulatory -- >> steve, stay with us. christina, with the latest from the dtc event. we will not name you in vignette yet -- nvidia yet. i know there is an analyst component of this. would have learned so far? >> reporter: i will tell you all of that. i attended the analyst meeting and press meetings. i have to start with saying, we

will have to reframe how we refer to and video. the ceo told this oom full of analysts, that "they are an algorithm first company." and they basically run everything. this is not just the hardware firm. we have been talking about just that. listening. >> everything we do starts with software. everything we do is in service of all the soft where developers who are solving these really difficult algorithms. we are reppert dented -- represented by $100 trillion in industry. >> reporter: in order to monetize the software, and video is launching a new subscription model called -- which stands for nvidia in france micro service. companies use their own nvidia -- to build a large language data. it would cause $4500 per gpu per year. it is a reoccurring source of revenue for nvidia.

they also anticipated a new chip based on the blackwell platform that also announced yesterday a lunch date later this year. i am unsure if it means it will be pushed back to q4 from q3. we are waiting to hear about that. and nvidia's ceo says supply constraints on the new blackwell chips will still occur this year. earlier this morning, jensen wong said they could cause $30- $40,000 per chip. -- maybe 20 minutes ago i asked him physically about the price point. i was little confused. i thought it would be more he said "he did not intend to put a price on a chip" it is not just about the chip, but designing the entire data center. we can ensure that it probably cost a lot more for company. i also asked huang about the $1 trillion addressable market. he said it will come out to about $250 billion per year,

something he has said before. today he said he expects the percentage of the 250 billion will likely be higher than in the past. to your point, that is the reason you saw the stock move higher once the -- came out and he reiterated they will have a larger portion. >> interesting. i guess the discussion from huang about how it is a software-based company and algorithm. that is just instruction, right? i get that, and no doubt about it. but we are still talking about physical shortages here of stuff people want to buy. it is hard to know how to ink about what drives the business and what the overarching conception of the long-term business is. >> reporter: they would argue that, okay, they are providing chip that might be in short supply in the near-term. they will only make a certain number. and everyone will be clamoring to get the new blackwell chips.

when you think about the bigger picture, they are selling more than just chips. you have to buy the ethernet cables, ethernet switches, i should say. you have to buy the software. nvidia is saying, we are doing much more than selling the chip. or the entire package, yes, to your point, at the bottom of that. there is still a supply shortage it seems like for the new blackwell chips that will come out. >> exactly. steve, talk about what this new a.i. division within microsoft is going to encompass. and what it might represent in terms of their ambition. has a house the openai investment? >> it is not how the investment. that is separate. this is building up the copilot product they are putting in everything. the digital assistant that started going on sale last year. this is a huge part of how microsoft plans to monetize a.i. for enterprises. they sell that for 30 bucks per user per month. if they say it is going just

fine, i guess. it's also making its way into hardware too. a couple of months ago, microsoft stated they will have a dedicated -- but into pc keyboards. that will show you how important they think this product is. expects new -- the new ceo to have some fervor of the pilot and getting into more people hand. there is a ree version and paid version, but they have to get it out there even more han that. that will be his task. it's all copilot, copilot, copilot. that is there marquee product. >> the sense of urgency being shown by some multi-trillion dollar cab companies is remarkable. i appreciate that, steve and kristina. up next, jeff degraff is raising out red flag on this market momentum. why he see some potential -- in the charts. up with no, you can catch us on osg llal by following the clinbe podcast on your favorite podcast app. we'll be

right back.

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welcome back. the major averages seeing gains across the board. the s&p 500 heading for the possible record close and what would be his 18th of the year. our next guest see some cracks forming under the surface for the momentum trade. let's bring in jeff degraaf, chairman of technical research at renaissance macro. it is good to see you.

you have been pretty bullish for a while. observing this is a bull market. it will probably continue to be so. take us below he surface in terms of what your call is on the momentum that -- factor and what it means. >> look, we are the momentum players too. we like trends, things that are going up. that tends to be good news. we tend to play that way. there are points when momentum will punch you right in the nose, you have to be careful of that. one of the things we look at is the spread between the returns of hybrid -- hi momentum names and low momentum names. we get that 90th plus percentile , it makes us nervous the continuation of that trade, which usually represent the consensus call, is probably running out of gas and fumes. it is not bearish for the overall market. that is really important, and frankly, refreshing. but it implies there is a convergence between losers and winners. most because winners will consolidate and go into a

corrective period. not a big problem. but a frustration for both. and then the laggards will catch up. that is how we are positioned for the second quarter. and maybe into the third quarter of this year. >> in a sense, your kind and describing. i know you have looked at this for quite a while, with the last couple of weeks have felt like. interns of momentum factor. it has not really destabilized much of anything. what areas do you specifically think will not be that will be net beneficiaries? >> from a sector perspective, and there's a little cross colonization here, so i want to be careful. you look at what is represented by the lowest momentum name. you have healthcare, which is probably the most dominant. you have some of the staple names and material names. and you start to see some breakups here. the relative performance, which we would not expect, is not

very good. we think there is little left for those names to catch up in the second quarter. again, as q1 may start to soften . and some of the software soften. and some of the ozempic related drugs soften. we think there is that possibility to catch up. the good news, and i think what people miss, it means our breadth improves in the market will help your. and not be in the think people are concentrated in, but overall -- >> i think the other piece is, just how sentiment and seasonal patterns might fit into this. we continue on this hunt, so far unsuccessful for some kind of media pullback. or some kind of dutch act that says we can refresh the rally a little bit. maybe we do not need. i wonder what you think? >> i think there's one thing on

the edge that has is a little concerned, that might be a shift in the narrative, is where we are on the 10 year yield. we are not bonded bearers, maybe we should be. until you get healed up through 440, the trend in yield looks to be lower to us. that is driven partly by what we are being globally, with the exception of japan. it still looks like they are topping and ready to contract. if we pumped through the 440, it triggers a bunch of our yield impacts that -- and think that history we have a negative impact on the equity markets. that might be a little bit of a reset or rethink the market. you have to be tactical and strategic. i do not think we are on our way to 6% or some of the crazy numbers out there. we might have to question people thinking around the alternatives that they can get in fixed income versus the equity markets at this level. that is one of the things we

are keeping in mind as research or ideas as to what might be the disrupt are here. >> what you make of the recent outperformance of things like energy, basic materials, some of the commodity-based stuff that has moved higher. i think you can draw a macro message from that. -- >> i think it is both. for us, the relative trends have not changed. they are not leadership names, but they are participating, so that is welcomed. what that means is we are probably not on the cusp of some global recession or something worse, for that matter. even with voters that we are seeing in china. it still says there is demand here. in a lot of ways, as long as they break up -- but they're not relative strength leadership, that is a healthy message. it says the productive assets are somewhere else, not just in raw materials, but the economy is firm enough that they are

well made. in many ways, it is a goldilocks scenario. >> certainly better than having them under liquidation. great to talk you, thanks so much. up next, that coin sliding today. we will tell you what is behind that drop and how the rest of the crypto space is reacting. at pgim, finding opportunity in fixed income today, helps secure tomorrow. our time-tested fixed income suite, backed by over 145 years of risk experience, helps investors meet their goals. pgim investments. shaping tomorrow today.

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less than 20 minutes until the closing bell. major indexes holding onto a half percent, give or take. meanwhile, bitcoin is slipping with the rest of the crypto space taking hits. cnbc's -- is here to discuss. i'm always a little bit weary to come up with my own escalation about what moves bitcoin up or down. obviously, at one point where were $10,000 off the highest. >> the weakness we are seeing is a continuation of the activity you saw last week after bitcoin hit its most recent all-time high, it is been notching higher and higher since the beginning of the year, really. after wednesday, you started seeing traders take some profit . that triggered a wave of long liquidations. for wednesday, thursday and

friday. a little break for the weekend, but in the last 24 hours we saw $140 million in bitcoin. stocks related to bitcoin's performance have cut some of their losses today. >> is the -- seems as if the story and the fact abated attract a fair amount of money have had, i would argue, longer life than you might have expected. it has been behind the bookcase for a while. we saw some outflows people were focused on. i guess it just reflect the activity you are talking about. >> it could be a number of things. the grayscale, bitcoin atf has a high fee compared to some of the other etf. i think a lot of traders would also say it takes a lot of investors a little bit of time to get accustomed to this. we have been saying, yes, these etf's will give a lot of investors new axis they did not have. but they still need to come

around to the idea of what that will mean for their portfolio and what they really want to do with their investments. just because they have access to the etf means everyone going to be jumping in at one time. >> we also have microstrategy, one of the biggest bitcoin place. a raise more capital to buy more bitcoin. i want to know if that is one of those things where once it happens, they bought what they will buy in the short time, and the momentum reverses. >> that is a strategy they have been known for and have leaned more into. last month, they said they will repair that and brand himself as a bitcoin -- company. this month has been -- the theme has been a rise to new highs. followed by steep losses. microstrategy got praise on wall street just last week for it bitcoin strategy. they say this is something that investors are becoming invested to -- end. this is still pretty strong,

but you will see the steep losses. >> microstrategy is up to hundred 25 year to date but -- it moves fast. great to see you, thanks a lot. still ahead, nordstrom shares popping on the back of a new report. the retailer is trying to -- all of the details and if it looks like a deal will get done. closing bell will be right back. and this must be the ocean view? of aruba? huh. this listing is misleading. well, when at&t says we give businesses get our best deal, on the iphone 15 pro made with titanium. we mean it. amazing. all my agents want it. says here...“inviting pool”. come on over! too inviting. only at&t gives businesses our best deals on any iphone. get iphone 15 pro on us. (♪♪) ♪(voya)♪ there are some things that work better together. like your workplace benefits and retirement savings. voya provides tools that help you make the right investment and benefit choices. so you can reach today's financial goals and look forward

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pies is coming. what he is watching from the fed and where he see stocks heading from here. -- the s&p 500, just a couple of points. plus, the latest developments in the activist battle over at disney. that much more as we take you into the market.

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disney's proxy battle with -- warren, i know you have been giving this -- the benefit of the doubt. resilient economy, earnings turning higher, next move by the fed is probably down, you have well-behaved bond yield. we are almost a quarter a will away into the new year. what is your checkup n the new year? >> thank you for having me. it is kind of going according to scripture he in our view is we are having a soft landing. if you go back in history and look at what that implies for the s&p 500, we should be at roughly 5200 by the first time the fed cut rates. our view at that time was the first cut would be may. everything is kind of on track, if not even better than what we expect it. i think it is appropriate for to consolidate the gains here. tomorrow is a big deal, obviously. everyone is focused on the fed, how many kinds are going to be that cuts.

i think is going to stay status quo. and gradually we will transition from paying so much attention to the fed, and a little more to earnings as we progress through the year. in our view, it is still a constructive backdrop for the market. would not be surprised if they got some kind of consolidation. and looking good for the both for now. >> and what way might tomorrow and the fed's decision be a big deal? is it just about the bond market taking it as a decision for higher for longer is more likely? or something else, and maybe that powell feels compelled to say maybe the market is a little too warm to get inflation where it has to go? >> that is one concern. i will watch the real fed funds rate. that was the big sparkle, to me, for the rally we have enjoyed in 2024. at the last sep going back to december, the fed lowered their real fed find -- funds rate.

-- that implies a looser fed. that was the first time we saw that real fed funds rating come down for more than year. i want to see if that stays steady, which is what i expect, more or less. worth the fed tie in with on the early year inflation we have had. we are basically working through those. i think there is too much concern about inflation. people looking at oil and -- i think they are jumping the gun. a re-acceleration of inflation is possible down the road. but i think the data right now is still on the this inflationary path. >> we do have the s&p licking through what would be a closing record high. just a quick word on oil. you mentioned it. it obviously has a little bit of momentum. where is it heading? >> i think we tapped out around 90. our model had been bullish for

about a year. they gained about 8% on the trade, we are happy with that. that signal has closed. we went from a market that is extremely pessimistic and now -- in the long energy sector. i think we are close to the end of this move. again, like i have been aying, saudi opec oil sits on the top of the market up with a soft cap on 90 bucks per barrel. darrell is also connected to -- and break even. there's a little bit of a mystery going on if you think this rising oil will sustain because of inflation -- to be higher. there are other reasons to be worried about inflation. but not oil, not right now. >> that is reassuring thinks, great to talk to you. courtney, nordstrom is up almost 10%. >> here's a story we have heard before. but it is worth talking about. reuters is reporting that nordstrom is working with

morgan stanley and several other partners to where the possibility of taking the company private. shares are spiking on the report, up 9%. nordstrom tells cnbc no quote is a part of policy -- in 2018, you might remember there was a similar exploration by the founding family. it was abandoned. part of the issue with the family wanted to retain the ownership under a sale and the deal could not be reached under that term. insiders own around 40%, with a number of family members holding leadership positions. including ceo, eric nordstrom, president peter nordstrom, chief merchandising officer, jamie nordstrom. their shares are down over the last month. the recently released mike a cautious forecast. -- there is no secret, the department store business have been through a little bit of a reckoning. obviously, macy's has announced a historic closing program.

they have confirmed it's opening it's books for due diligence to earn house capital as potentially moving forward with some consideration of maybe a deal. they have offered $24 per share for that as well. a lot of the -- potential deals might be happening, or at least exploration. >> if you look at where the companies are valued, the traditional department stores, it's like 20% of sales. that has been in decline for years. there are buyers out there who seem to think that maybe that is some floor level or one that can work with. -- it is trading in that zone. >> exactly. they are all department stores, but very different. macy's has been a real estate play, at least in recent years. which seems to be the case. with arkhouse and brigade. they say they want to continue to write it. but they point out the value of

the real estate they're trying to unlock. >> courtney, thank you so much. julia, the latest on the back and forth with disney. >> that is right, disney shares are up 1% going into the close after this morning. george lucas, disney's largest individual shareholder says he supports a eiger, disney ceo and his proxy ballot against nelson powell. the filmmaker received -- shares back in 2012. is part of disney's $4.05 billion personage of lucas's films. this is according to sources that concern -- confirm this to cnbc. lucas said, i remain a significant shareholder because i have full faith and confidence in the power of disney and bob track record of driving long-term value. i have voted all of my shares for disney's 12 directors and urged other shareholders to do the same. disney has got the embarrassment of data walt disney heirs and the chase ceo

-- lucas's endorsement is notable, not only because of the number of shares, but the critical acclaim and box office success of his various franchises. >> and a notable counter to -- who was a seller of marble to disney and is waging part of the site. >> exactly. -- is giving nelson peltz control over his shares. he was part of the marvel transaction. george lucas was part of the lucasfilm's class action to disney. those were two different ip empires that really drove the success of disney. and now both on different sides of this. >> all right, we will see how the voters weigh in on this. julia, thank you so much. we are about 30 seconds ahead of the close. the s&p 500 on the verge of a potential new closing all-time high. 5176, the prior high was one week ago, just above 5175.

you have pretty decent market -- majority are up-to-date, even as you have some thing -- bond yields. [ inaudible ] we will hear from powell tomorrow. that will do it for closing bell. we will send it into closing time with morgan and john. stocks settle here. it looks like we are getting a record close for the s&p 500, 5178. if it stays this way, ahead of tomorrow's fed interest rate decision, that is the scorecard on wall street. that action is just getting started. welcome to closing bell over time i am --. >> -- and video having -- after an ounce thing ai chips.